We didn’t know exactly what we’d find. We just knew we wanted to go. And that’s really the point of wandering, isn’t it? You leave home without needing to know exactly how the story ends. Sometimes that means getting a little farther from the familiar than you intended. Sometimes it means saying yes to something completely unexpected.

And sometimes it means having one hell of a Rotten Time along the way. This is the story of our journey from fire and ice to Broadway lights.

Before We Got on the Ship…

Our adventure officially began the moment we landed at Keflavík International Airport. After a red-eye flight from Orlando, we probably should have been exhausted. Instead, the drive toward Reykjavík had us glued to the windows, watching the landscape transform into a seemingly endless stretch of ancient lava fields and rugged mountains in the distance. Whatever sleep we’d missed on the flight would have to wait. Iceland had our attention.

Our first stop was the famous Rainbow Street, which led us straight toward Hallgrímskirkja, the city’s most recognizable landmark. The church is impressive from the outside, but stepping inside was just as memorable. We were lucky enough to hear the massive organ being played, and for a few minutes, we simply stood there and listened. Not a bad way to start a trip.

After wandering around the city for a while, we eventually made our way back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. That’s when we discovered something that felt almost too convenient to be true.

The brewery we had been eyeing was literally across the street from our dinner reservation. Now, we could have gone straight to dinner. We did not. So we popped into the brewery for a beer, or possibly three, before heading across the street for dinner. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned about traveling, it’s that when a brewery conveniently appears in your path, you don’t question it. You simply accept the universe’s gift.

At this point, the trip was off to a pretty damn good start. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, completely exhausted but already feeling like we’d packed a lot into our first day. Tomorrow, the rest of our crew; Mandy’s parents, her brother, and his girlfriend, would arrive and our little group of six would officially kick off what was shaping up to be one hell of an adventure.

By day two in Reykjavík, the rest of our adventure crew had arrived, and the six of us didn’t waste much time getting back out to explore. With only a limited amount of time in the city, we squeezed in some obligatory shopping and a few quick sightseeing stops before making our way to what would become one of the highlights of the entire trip: Sky Lagoon.

There was something about the atmosphere that made it feel less like a traditional tourist attraction and more like an actual escape. No rushing from one thing to the next. No trying to see everything. Just warm water, incredible scenery, good conversation, and a drink in your hand.

Of course, we weren’t about to show up and do things halfway. We did the full seven-step ritual, which takes you through a series of different experiences designed to leave you feeling relaxed, refreshed, and slightly more convinced that you should probably be spending more time in Iceland.

And then there was the important part:

Sky Lagoon allows each guest up to three drinks during the experience, and we were determined to make sure none of those drinks went to waste. We drank our way through the lagoon at a perfectly responsible pace, enjoying the views, the conversation, and the increasingly difficult decision of whether we should ever actually leave.

Eventually, we dragged ourselves out of the lagoon, changed, and headed back toward Reykjavík. Sky Lagoon officially set the bar pretty damn high for the rest of the trip.

And then, after two nights in Iceland, it was finally time. We were getting on the ship.

The Long Way Across the Atlantic

Our home for the next 13 nights would be Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady. This wasn’t exactly a typical Caribbean cruise. We weren’t sailing from Miami to a collection of tropical islands.

We were heading from Iceland to Greenland, crossing the North Atlantic, making our way through Canada, and eventually ending up in New York City. Which sounds simple enough when you say it quickly. It wasn’t. We were about to spend nearly two weeks crossing thousands of miles of ocean, sailing past glaciers and icebergs, stopping in places we’d never been, hearing stories we couldn’t have imagined, and slowly making our way toward North America. There were going to be remote villages, historic cities, a whole lot of water, and absolutely no reasonable shortcut to where we were going. We could have simply flown to New York. Instead, we decided to make getting there the adventure.

Into Iceland’s Wild West

Our first stop was Ísafjörður in Iceland’s Westfjords. This was one of those port days where the destination itself was only part of the experience. We took a tour that brought us out into the surrounding area, where we learned about the history and culture of the region while taking in some absolutely incredible scenery.

The Westfjords are exactly what you imagine when you picture Iceland. The roads wind through massive fjords, mountains rise directly from the water, and tiny communities seem to exist wherever someone managed to find a flat enough piece of land to build a house.

Along the way, we were lucky enough to encounter some of Iceland’s wildlife, including seals and whales. A colony of seals was lounging along the shoreline, just about 100 yards from where we stood. They were completely unconcerned with us, going about their day as if a group of humans staring at them from across the water was the most normal thing in the world. We stood there watching them, realizing that for them, this wasn’t a special moment at all. This was simply home.

Then, out in the waters of the fjord, we spotted a small pod of whales. They surfaced, disappeared beneath the water, and surfaced again as they slowly made their way through the fjord. There was no dramatic show, no perfectly timed breach, just a few whales moving through the water together, completely on their own schedule. They weren’t there for us. We were simply lucky enough to be there when they passed by.

We stopped at a private home overlooking the fjords, where we were welcomed in for coffee and waffles while enjoying what might have been one of the best views of the fjords imaginable from someone’s front yard. There is something special about experiences like that. You can visit the major attractions. You can take the pictures. You can check the landmarks off your list. But being at someone’s home, looking out across the fjord, eating waffles and drinking coffee while hearing stories about the area. That’s the stuff we remember.

After the tour, Mandy and I had one more important stop to make before getting back on Valiant Lady. The brewery. Obviously. Because no Rotten Time Adventures itinerary is complete without finding the local beer.

The Northern Lights

That evening, Valiant Lady left Iceland behind and began the journey toward Greenland.

And then something happened that we weren’t entirely sure we’d get to experience on this trip. The Northern Lights appeared. There we were, standing on the top deck of the ship in the middle of the North Atlantic, watching the sky come alive above us.

The lights on the top deck were turned off, leaving us in the darkness so the Northern Lights could shine even brighter against the night sky. Before long, guests and crew had gathered on deck, all looking up at the same thing. Conversations became quieter. Cameras came out. People pointed toward the sky. Everyone seemed to be caught in the same state of disbelief.

We were all just members of the audience. And what a show it was. The lights danced across the sky, shifting and moving above us while the ship continued quietly through the North Atlantic. We took plenty of pictures, of course. We wanted proof that this actually happened.

But eventually, I put the camera down because I didn’t want to miss what was happening right in front of me. I looked around and watched everyone else watching the sky. Crew members. Fellow passengers. Complete strangers standing shoulder to shoulder, all of us staring upward in the same kind of awe.

Nobody needed to explain how lucky we were. We all knew. For a little while, the entire top deck felt like it had become an audience gathered for a performance that had been millions of years in the making and we had managed to get seats.

The Northern Lights weren’t something we had planned to see that night. They were something we were simply fortunate enough to witness. And they were only the beginning.

The Day Greenland Took Our Breath Away

After leaving Iceland, we entered one of the most spectacular portions of the entire journey: Prince Christian Sound.

Glaciers. Mountains. Waterfalls. Ice. Greenlandic wilderness stretching as far as we could see. And the best part? We didn’t have to take a bus, hike for views, or get on another boat. We could simply stand on the ship and watch the landscape unfold around us.

It was cold. Really cold. We had bundled ourselves up with just about every layer we had packed, but honestly, none of us seemed particularly bothered by it. We were having one of those rare travel days where the weather could have thrown just about anything at us and we probably wouldn’t have cared. The sun was out, the skies were beautiful, and the scenery surrounding the ship was absolutely spectacular.

Valiant Lady slowly made her way into Prince Christian Sound, and almost immediately, the scale of the landscape around us made the ship feel incredibly small.

Massive mountains rose straight out of the water on either side of us, their rugged slopes covered in ice. Waterfalls seemed to appear from nowhere, beginning high up on the mountains and cascading down their sides until they disappeared directly into the ocean below. At times, the mountains felt so close that I could almost convince myself I could reach out and touch them.

At one point, Valiant Lady came to a complete stop in front of a massive glacier. Then the ship did something that I thought was pretty incredible. She slowly completed a full 360-degree turn, giving everyone onboard a chance to see the glacier from wherever they happened to be standing. It didn’t matter if you were on the front of the ship, the back, your balcony, or somewhere in between. For a few minutes, the glacier was the main event, and the entire ship seemed to revolve around it.

Afterward, we continued slowly through the sound, passing one glacier after another. Every time I thought we’d just seen the most impressive view of the day, another one appeared around the next bend.

There was something almost surreal about it. We were on a cruise ship, surrounded by hundreds of other people, yet the landscape made everything feel incredibly remote. There were no roads. No buildings. No crowds of tourists waiting for us at the next attraction. Just the ship, the mountains, the ice, the waterfalls, and the ocean.

We had come to Greenland expecting incredible scenery. I’m not sure we were prepared for just how incredible it would actually be.

Come for the Food. Stay for the…Whale Jerky?

Our next stop was Qaqortoq. Rather than simply wandering around town and checking a few sights off a list, we decided to experience Qaqortoq through one of our favorite ways to understand a destination: Food. And beer, obviously.

We joined a local food tour that gave us a chance to experience some of Greenland’s culinary traditions and learn more about the food that has helped sustain communities in an environment where the landscape isn’t exactly known for making things easy.

And yes…We ate seal and whale jerky. For some people, that sentence might be enough to end the article right here. We get it. But for us, this is one of the things we love about traveling. Not every experience has to be familiar or comfortable or something we would order back home. Sometimes, understanding a place means being willing to try something that makes you pause for a second and think, Okay… we’re really doing this.

The food wasn’t simply about trying something unusual for the sake of having a story to tell. It was an opportunity to learn more about Greenland’s history, its environment, and the ways people have traditionally relied on what was available around them. Food tells you a lot about a place. What people eat, how they prepare it, and what has been passed down through generations can tell a story that you won’t find on a sightseeing tour.

We also did one of the things we seem to do almost everywhere we travel: We went to the grocery store.

Not exactly the glamorous travel experience you see in the brochures. But we genuinely love wandering through grocery stores when we’re in another country. It’s one of those simple things that gives you a glimpse into everyday life. You get to see what people actually buy, which products are familiar, which ones are completely foreign, and how the local environment and culture influence what’s sitting on the shelves.

And somehow, even thousands of miles from home in a tiny Greenlandic town, we still managed to find plenty of things that looked familiar. That contrast is part of what makes travel so interesting. You can be somewhere that feels completely different from home and still recognize pieces of your everyday life. Qaqortoq reminded us of something we believe pretty strongly about travel. Some of the best experiences aren’t necessarily the ones you’ll find on a list of the world’s most famous attractions.

They’re the experiences that let you actually interact with a place. Taste it. Listen to it. Talk to people. Wander through it. Pay attention to the little things. And come home with a story you couldn’t have gotten anywhere else. For us, Qaqortoq wasn’t about seeing everything. It was about experiencing something.

Nuuk & the Monster Hunter

This might have been one of the most unexpected experiences of the entire trip.

We had the opportunity to listen to a local storyteller who described her profession as a “Monster Hunter.” Not exactly the job title you hear every day.

Her stories introduced us to Greenlandic legends and the creatures that have been part of those stories for generations. She told us about Greenland’s ancestors, how people survived in an incredibly harsh environment, and the legends surrounding the creatures they believed inhabited the world around them. And, naturally, those creatures had powers.

The stories were fascinating because they gave us another perspective on Greenland. It wasn’t just glaciers and mountains or remote villages and Arctic landscapes.

It was a place with its own mythology, traditions, stories, and beliefs that have been passed down through generations. Listening to those stories while actually being in Greenland made them feel completely different than they would have in a book or documentary. We weren’t just learning about a destination. We were sitting in it.

And apparently, one of those creatures had decided our tour needed a little more excitement. Meet Tupilak. In Greenlandic folklore, the Tupilak is a mysterious creature associated with magic and misfortune. We had just spent part of the day hearing stories about these creatures and the powers they were believed to possess.

And then, apparently, Tupilak decided it was time to stop being part of the story. Somewhere in the middle of the tour, our tour guide simply… left. As in, our entire group was suddenly standing there without our guide and, more importantly, without a ride back to the ship. Not exactly how you want a shore excursion to end when you’re in a city you’ve never visited, in a country you’ve never been to, and on a ship that isn’t going to wait forever. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Fortunately, we ran into another tour guide who was able to point us in the right direction and explain where the buses were dropping passengers off in the town center. What started as an annoying situation unexpectedly turned into an opportunity to see a little more of Nuuk on our own.

So, naturally, we wandered. We made our way through the town center and discovered a local mall, which, of course, meant we had to investigate the grocery store. No matter where in the world we go, we will find a grocery store and spend at least a few minutes wandering through it.

Nuuk was also probably the coldest stop of the entire trip. We were bundled up in layers, trying to stay warm as we made our way around town, but even the cold couldn’t stop us from squeezing in a little unexpected exploration before catching the bus back to Valiant Lady.

Once we made it back to the port, we discovered a few more local shops and, because no adventure is complete without bringing home a little evidence that it actually happened, picked up a few souvenirs before boarding the ship.

We also made sure to let Virgin Voyages know exactly what had happened with the excursion. They were incredibly empathetic about the situation and provided appropriate compensation, which we appreciated. Things don’t always go perfectly when you travel, and sometimes the most important part is how a company responds when they don’t.

Looking back, Nuuk ended up being a perfect example of why we love to wander. The day didn’t go exactly as planned. Actually, at one point, it went spectacularly off plan.

But because of that, we saw a little more of Nuuk than we probably would have otherwise. We wandered through a local mall. We explored a grocery store. We found a few souvenirs. And we got another glimpse of everyday life in a place that felt incredibly far from home.

The Monster Hunter gave us a glimpse into Greenland’s legends. The unexpected detour gave us a glimpse into Greenland’s everyday life. And somewhere between the two, Nuuk became another reminder that sometimes the best travel stories are the ones you never planned to tell.

We Were Really, Really Far From Home

After Nuuk, we pointed the ship toward North America and for the next two days, there wasn’t a port on the itinerary. Just the Atlantic Ocean. That might sound like the least exciting part of the trip, but it wasn’t.

During our sea days we saw lots of icebergs. We saw them scattered across the water as we made our way toward Newfoundland. Some were small, others were massive. And every time we spotted another one, it was impossible not to stop and watch.

There was also something surreal about our location. At one point, we were approximately 300–400 miles from where the Titanic sank. Think about that for a second. We were in the middle of the North Atlantic, surrounded by nothing but ocean, watching icebergs drift past us, while sailing relatively close to one of the most famous maritime disasters in history.

It was a strange combination of beauty and history, and it made the scale of the ocean feel very real. Standing there, surrounded by so much open water, it was easy to understand how vast and unforgiving this part of the world can be. The Titanic wasn’t just a story from a history book anymore. We were sailing through the same enormous stretch of ocean where that story had unfolded more than a century ago.

And we didn’t realize it yet, but the Titanic story would follow us a little farther on this journey. Our stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia is where the connection to the disaster would become much more tangible. The ocean had given us the scenery. Soon, it would give us the history.

Land Ho! We Found North America

Eventually, land appeared again. Our next stop was St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada.

Mandy and I spent the day exploring St. John’s, and because we have a “hobby,” we immediately started looking for a brewery. Actually, that’s not entirely true. We found two.

We weren’t rushing from one attraction to the next. We simply wandered. We stopped into shops, browsed local goods, took in the colorful buildings, and admired the architecture and scenery around us. St. John’s has a distinct character that makes it easy to enjoy simply by walking through it and having nowhere we absolutely needed to be made it even better. Eventually, our wandering led us to our second brewery of the day. Because one brewery is never enough.

And then we stumbled across something we absolutely could not walk past without investigating: The Dildo Brewing Company store. Yes, you read that correctly. At this point, there was really only one responsible thing to do. Buy commemorative merchandise. When you unexpectedly stumble across a place with a name like Dildo while traveling, you don’t simply take a picture and walk away. You buy something that proves it actually happened. So naturally, we left with souvenirs to commemorate our very important discovery.

As we wandered, we came across the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in St. John’s. The atmosphere immediately changed. People had gathered around the memorial, standing quietly and paying their respects. So, we stopped too.

For a few moments we simply stood there in silence alongside the people around us. We didn’t need to know everyone’s story or have anything profound to say. It was one of those unexpected moments you sometimes encounter when you travel, the kind that reminds you that you’re walking through a place with a history and significance that extends far beyond what you came to see.

And somehow, that felt like a pretty perfect snapshot of our day in St. John’s: a little history, a little reflection, a lot of wandering, and, naturally, a Newfoundland dog. St. John’s gave us a completely different atmosphere from Iceland and Greenland. The colorful buildings, waterfront, history and distinctly Canadian character made it a fun contrast to the remote Arctic communities we’d just visited. And then it was back to the ship.

History Has a Way of Finding You

Our final port before New York was Halifax, Nova Scotia. We started the day on the hop-on, hop-off bus, which gave us a chance to see more of the city without trying to cram everything into one walking route.

As we made our way around Halifax, the tour took us past historic buildings, landmarks, and the Halifax Citadel, giving us a quick look at the city’s history and character. But the stop that really caught our attention during this tour came when we stopped at the cemetery where victims of the Titanic are buried.

After everything we’d experienced over the previous few days, sailing through the North Atlantic, watching icebergs drift past the ship, and realizing we were only a few hundred miles from where the Titanic sank, being at that cemetery made the story feel very different.

This wasn’t a story on a museum display or something we’d heard about from a guide. These were actual people, buried thousands of miles from where their journey had begun. It was a sobering moment, especially knowing that we’d spent the previous day sailing through the same vast ocean where the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves more than a century ago.

For us, the next stop was the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, where we would learn even more about the Titanic and discover another piece of Halifax history we hadn’t expected. And this was one of those stops where I walked in knowing very little and walked out genuinely wanting to learn more.

The 1917 Halifax Explosion. I’ll be honest: before this trip, I had never heard of it.

The explosion occurred when two ships collided in Halifax Harbour, resulting in what was, at the time, the largest man-made explosion in history and devastating parts of the city.

Seeing the museum’s exhibits and learning more about what happened put an entirely different layer onto our visit to Halifax. What had started as something I knew literally nothing about felt much more real and much more human.

And as usually happens when something catches my curiosity, I wanted to know more. I ended up buying a book about the Halifax Explosion so I could continue learning about what happened after we left. I’m naturally curious, and I like learning. Travel has a funny way of feeding that curiosity because you can stumble across a story, a piece of history, or a completely unfamiliar perspective and suddenly find yourself wanting to dig deeper. Halifax did exactly that.

And then there was the Titanic. The museum has artifacts connected to the disaster, and Halifax has a significant connection to the Titanic because the city played an important role in recovering victims following the sinking. Seeing the artifacts and learning more about the disaster made the history feel much more tangible. These aren’t just stories from a textbook. They were people from many different places. And the artifacts were their lives which now exist as pieces of history in cities we visit today.

After all that history, we did what we do best. We found a beer garden along the waterfront for lunch. And then made sure to support the local economy a little more by visiting another brewery before returning to the ship.

We Took the Long Way to Broadway

Our final destination was New York City. We sailed into New York early in the morning, Mandy was kind enough to wake me as Valiant Lady made her way toward the city. The skyline began to appear. And then there she was.

The Statue of Liberty. She greeted us as we sailed into New York, with the city skyline illuminated behind her.

After everything we’d seen over the previous two weeks, volcanic landscapes, fjords, glaciers, Greenlandic villages, icebergs and the open Atlantic, it was almost poetic to finish the journey with one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.

We arrived in New York. Well, technically Brooklyn. But we weren’t going home yet. We still had two more nights in the city, and two Broadway shows waiting for us.

Before our travel crew scattered off to their own plans, we met up for brunch one last time. After nearly two weeks of exploring the North Atlantic together, it felt a little strange knowing that this was the point where our group adventure was coming to an end. But before we went our separate ways, we had one more stop to make together.

We made our way into Manhattan to Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge, and it was a pretty spectacular way to officially arrive in New York.

The views were fantastic, the cocktails were creative, and the setting felt like something that could only exist in New York. Between the rooftop views, the atmosphere, and the unmistakable energy of the city around us, it was the kind of place that makes you stop for a minute and take in where you are.

After spending the better part of two weeks surrounded by glaciers, mountains, icebergs, and open ocean, suddenly we were surrounded by skyscrapers, traffic, and the New York skyline. The contrast couldn’t have been better.

We’d gone from fire and ice to Broadway lights.

Ending an Arctic adventure by simply flying home didn’t feel dramatic enough, so we stayed in New York for two more nights and decided that Broadway would be the final act of our trip.

Our first night in the city was all about The Rocky Horror Show. Before the show, we had dinner at La Grande Boucherie NYC, which felt like a pretty perfect way to ease into an evening in Manhattan. The restaurant itself was an experience, with its grand setting and old-world atmosphere, and it set the tone for what was already shaping up to be a memorable night.

Then, at the theater, there was a tribute to Tim Curry, who had recently passed away. Seeing that tribute on the way into The Rocky Horror Show felt especially poignant. After spending nearly two weeks surrounded by history, stories, and unexpected moments, it seemed fitting that even our final nights in New York would give us another little reminder of the stories and people that leave their mark on the world.

The following day gave us a little more time to simply enjoy the city before our final Broadway show. Naturally, our wandering eventually led us to a brewery at Rockefeller Center. Because of course it did.

At this point, finding breweries in random corners of the world has become less of a coincidence and more of a legitimate travel strategy. We grabbed a beer, enjoyed a classic New York street dog for lunch, and then headed off to see Lost Boys.

After the show, we walked through the city one last time and made our way to Sushi Lab Rooftop for our final dinner in New York. It was a fitting way to close out the trip. Good food with a great view, and one last evening taking in the energy of the city before reality came calling the next morning.

And then, finally, it was time to go home. After 17 nights, thousands of miles, glaciers, icebergs, whales, Northern Lights, remote communities, historic cities, unexpected detours, more breweries than we probably needed, and two nights of Broadway, the adventure had finally come to an end.

We took the long way to New York. And honestly? We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

And That’s the Thing About Wandering

Looking back on the entire journey, it’s easy to focus on the big moments. Glaciers towering over Valiant Lady. Swimming in a geothermal hot spring in Iceland, Standing in the middle of Prince Christian Sound surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. Seeing the Statue of Liberty waiting for us as we sailed into New York. And, of course, ending the whole thing with Broadway lights. Those are the moments that make the highlight reel.

But that’s not really what I remember most. I remember sitting in the front yard of local home in Iceland drinking coffee and eating waffles while looking out over a fjord. I remember wandering through grocery stores in places where we’d never been before just to see what people actually buy.  I remember watching an entire ship stop what they were doing to look up at the Northern Lights. I remember learning about the Halifax Explosion and leaving the museum wanting to know more.

Those weren’t necessarily the moments we planned before leaving home. Some weren’t even moments we could have planned.

You can make an itinerary. You can book the flights and reserve the hotels, the excursions, the restaurants, and the cruise. You can have a pretty good idea of where you’re going and what you’re going to see.

But you can’t plan for the conversation that changes the way you see a place. You can’t predict the little discovery around the next corner. You can’t know which story you’ll still be telling years later. And sometimes, you can’t even control when your tour guide decides to abandon you in Greenland.

Travel isn’t always perfect. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it’s cold or inconvenient. Sometimes it doesn’t go according to plan at all.

But that’s also what makes it worth doing. Because when you leave room to wander, you leave room for something unexpected to become part of your story.

That’s what this trip gave us. It gave us stories about places we’d never been and people we’d never met. Stories about history we didn’t know and moments we couldn’t have planned.

And that’s why we keep going. Because there is still so much of the world we haven’t seen and so much we don’t know. There are many roads, oceans, cities, and completely ridiculous detours waiting for us somewhere out there. We just have to be willing to go find them. And sometimes, the best way to get there is to take the long way.

From fire and ice to Broadway lights, this was one hell of a journey.